Shields
Alright I hate to explain everything about shields for no goddamn reason whatsoever so here's sharky99's entire post start of post THE PURPOSE: This thread is to discuss the design specifics of the Shield Parts Defense Weapon System Version 1.0 in Build Your Own Mech (BYM). There are factors installed that competitive players could benefit from but would have no idea of due to their complexity without a reference. (I recommend playing the game and testing with shields before continuing! Hold mech controller to see your energy statistics!) THE CONCEPT: How does it all work basically? >Shield parts, if placed within limits of your energy cells within quantity and size limits determined by the energy cells, act as a defensive weapon by absorbing any bumpers, bombs, and spikes of other teams which damages (more if they are larger) your energy level which is determined by the size and quantity of your energy cells. Everything your shields are capable of are determined by your energy cells, which you need to understand in order to optimize a functional shield system on your creation. THE SPECIFICS: Questions & Answers > What factors do we need to worry about when designing a shield system? Sizing, Quantity, Placement, Damage, Energy Capacity, Energy Usage, and Energy Regenerating. Note that energy cells may change color depending on not only the energy level, but if parts are out of bounds of each other or if you have too many shields. > What are the size limits? Max Energy Cell Size: 10x10x10 Cell Quantity Limit: 3 Max Shield Size: 10x10x10 Shield Quantity Limit: 125 > What does the size of Energy Cells determine? The larger your Energy Cell, the more Max Energy you have. For example, a 10x10x10 cell would give you 1000 energy (the formula is (SizeOfCell ^ 2) * 10, so if you have a 3x3x3 cell, it would be (3 ^ 2) * 10) = 90 energy.) The larger the cell also means higher shield detection distance (the formula for detecting shield parts is SizeOfCell * 10, so if you have a 3x3x3 cell, 3*10 = 30 units.) Further, the total energy capacity determines how much cubic shield part area your system can support. So for example, if you have 1000 total energy, you can support 1000 cubic space of shield parts, which is shown on your mech controller energy gui as "Energy Usage". Lastly, the larger the cell, the faster the regeneration rate (currently determined by this formula: (1 + TotalEnergyCapacity / 150) * math.sqrt( NumberOfCells ) *IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION: Larger Energy Cells have bigger explosions; these explosions ONLY BREAK YOUR OWN PARTS, so they should be treated as a weak spot. The larger the explosion, larger blast radius and more potential parts to break (amount of parts it will break max is 200, and there is a complex formula that is not final to determine the amount at different cell sizes.) > What does the quantity of Energy Cells determine? If you have more than 1 Energy Cell, their total energy will combine (3 10x10x10 energy cells produce a max energy of 3000 - game max energy limit.) Further, more Energy Cells means your regeneration rate will increase. (The formula regeneration factor increase is the SquareRoot(numberOfCells). So if you have 3 cells, it will multiply your regeneration by approx 1.732.) Lastly, more quantity means you could potentially extend the distance that cells can detect nearby shields to power them. So if you have 3 30x30x30 cells, each can find each other 30 units away so you could place the 2nd cell 30 units from first, and the 3rd cell another 30 units away from the 2nd cell. > How should Energy Cells be placed? Energy Cells have two placement rules: None of them can be out of range of each other (if they are, all will turn Purple and shields will turn off) and none can be too close to each other as to be compressed (they turn Pink and shields turn off.) The game is always calculating to see the distances between the cells, and it checks from the perspective of each individual cell to determine if they are at least in range of one other cell. Larger cells have higher detection distance. It is also a consideration that Energy Cells need to be able to detect your shield parts, so if they are too far, out-of-range shield parts will simply turn off and not be considered in Usage. > What does the size of a shield part determine? The larger the shield, the more cubic shield area and the more Energy Usage it will have. Depending on whether you used a block, cylinder, or wedge shield, it will take a different amount (Block: (sizeX * sizeY * sizeZ); Wedge: (sizeX * sizeY * sizeZ) / 2; Cylinder: (sizeX * sizeY * sizeZ) * 0.707). One last exception you should be aware of is that if any dimension of the shield part is under 1 unit, it will still be treated as 1 unit in Energy Usage calculations. > What does the quantity of shield parts determine? Energy Usage is summed up based off quantity. Spreading out shield parts can be strategic to save on Energy Usage, but at the expense of a higher part count. If your Energy Usage is too high, all shields turn off. (Note: In a future update, I plan to make it so that if your usage is higher than your current energy capacity, it will power the closest shields up to your current cap so if for example, you lose 1 cell, your whole system doesn't go down as it does currently.) > How should Shield Parts be placed? Shield parts should be placed within range of Energy Cells in order to turn on. Any out-of-range shield parts will turn off. So before you make missiles with shields on them, take that into consideration. > What will happen as my Energy Level is lowered or depleted? How does generating work? As your shields absorb parts, your energy level will decrease and the cells will react to that. If your energy level is below your max energy level but not half empty, all cells will turn Really Blue. As the level goes below half empty, all cells will turn yellow. Generating is currently automatic, but in a future update it will be manual and require turning off shields to generate. The generation formula should stay the same: (1 + TotalEnergyCapacity / 150) * math.sqrt( NumberOfCells ) If your energy level is depleted, shields will go down there will cooldown for 60 seconds and not be able to regenerate until the cooldown is over. After the cooldown, 1/20 of your max capacity will be returned and generation will immediately begin. > How much can my shields absorb? How is damage to the energy level determined? The amount your shield system can absorb enemy parts is determined by the amount of damage they deal to your energy level, and depending on whether its a spike, bomb, or bumper, there will be different damage conventions. Spike Damage - Taller spikes deal more damage formula: 20 + spikeHeight * 3 damage is 100 Bumper Damage - Bigger is better formula: 10 + (sizeX + sizeY + sizeZ) * 2 damage is 100 Bomb Damage - Bigger is better formula: 30 + (sizeX + sizeY + sizeZ) * 3 damage limit, must be direct hit to shield So do the math - your system could absorb a lot of small bumpers, or be taken down quickly by a few large bombs. If you're taking small amounts of damage over a long period, your system could withstand a lot as it regenerates. The best strategy for taking down shields is to give it all at once, but take into consideration the size formulas for damaging. I hope this answers most of your questions, if you have any more send me a tweet @GameDevShark Good luck building! Sharky99 BYM Developer end of post